which botia or loach eats snails?

[danski]

i bought a clown loach to help with my snail problem but nothing so far has happened to the little buggers. am i using the right loach? if not whats the name of the one i should use? i have an outbreak of some sort of snail. its not the malaysian snail but right now they look like little brown mystery snails. im not sure how big they get but there messin with my plants and ive already tried the lettuce trick but i think they like my plants better. no chemicals for me so im tryin the loach thingy.

 

[red-devil0602]

clown loach do like snails but do you know they like to be in groups of 4 or so and do you realise how big they grow hope you got a big tank

 

[sylvia]

Most botia species will handle snails. You should return the clown and replace it with a couple of a smaller-growing species. Try zebra loaches (if you don't have anything that's likely to get nipped). That is, botia striata. I'm assuming your tank is at least 20 gallons...

 

[danski]

thanks everyone. guess i shoulda let you in on my game plan. i got a loach about 2.5in because some of the snails are bout a quarter inch and i didnt know if smaller loaches could handle the size of some of the snails. i do realize they like to school together but i thought id let him have a go at the snails first and return him. i know it might sound mean but im tryin to let nature handle the snails. i didnt want to put more stress on my bio-load with even more fish. i only have an 18gal and i dont plan on keeping the loach since i dont want to put ant unnecessary stress on him. he looks very healthy and happy swimming with the other fish including my two kuhlis which are darting all bout. just thought id give a natural try at removing the pests since im totally against chemicals. my tank is very stable and ive been monitoring the water for stability and figured adding the loach might not put that much strain on the system. but he may not be going for the snails since he has an abundance of treats such as the wafers and live blood worms.

 

[morgan]

I wanted Botia Striata to eat snails but couldn't get any. I got Yoyo Loaches instead. They are only two and a half inches yet, they will grow to five inches. They are eating the snails very well. I got two because they don't like being on their own, I couldn't get more or I would be overstocked.

 

[Bloo]

What snails do you have ? If they are Manlaysian Trumpets, they are almost untouchable !

 

[morgan]

If you mean me, I have small brown ones and larger grey ones which are squashable. I also have some grey ones which are very hard.

 

[abstract]

i'm sorry but it is extremly irresponsible to buy a loach just to get rid of snails and then return it....and no loach that eats snails will permanently be able to be housed in an 18 gallon tank...from what i've heard many clowns "learn" to eat snails eventually...and often times one figures it out and then the rest follow suit, hence the schooling nature of the fish..

in my opinion you need to keep using the lettuce trick and the finger trick (i.e. physically removing them from the tank and squishing them) and within a couple weeks you will have them under control...believe me, i've had various outbreaks in my tank within the last couple years and with a little bit of diligence it is completely unnecessary to buy a fish just for snail control....you will never eliminate them all, keep that in mind

 

[smithrc]

What snails do you have ? If they are Manlaysian Trumpets, they are almost untouchable !

tell that to our clowns - we put some in the sane tank with thtem and they are no longer with us.

either that or they just done come out at all (they leave groves in the sand when they do)

and no loach that eats snails will permanently be able to be housed in an 18 gallon tank...

Our Botia rostrata eat snails and should get to 3" max and will be fine in an 18 gal... (they were bought for snail duty in our 15 gal)

 

[danski]

agreed. i believe its mean too. but like i said im at my patience end. i tried removing 5 to 9 a day only to have them replaced the next day. the lettuce doesnt work since the snails have plenty of live plants to chomp on. i removed them by hand for nearly 3 weeks to no avail. they are not malaysian trumpet snails. didnt meen to upset anyone with my idea but im running out of tolerance for the little buggers and it would be meaner in my opinion to just get rid of the whole tank. i do realize how big clowns get and that they like to school but if there were any signs of stress i would react immediatly. i also read that clowns grow rather slow so i figured i have some time before he feels cramped. this is only very temporary.it doesnt seem to be working as of yet so he may be going back soon. as for cruelty i see it to be no worse than buying fish simply to cycle you tank then returning them for credit for stock.

 

[abstract]

ok...so even if the clown does eat the snails, if you are removing as many as you make it sound like, they will reappear when you do return him anyhow....i find it very hard to believe that 10 snails resurface everyday to replace the ones you took out...they really don't grow fast....

and i have 2 moderately planted tanks and the lettuce trick works just fine every single time....all of my snails greatly prefer lettuce to the plants....

it is not a matter of getting rid of the whole tank...it is a matter of feeding less to your fish, cleaning out the filter every couple of weeks and picking them out a couple times a week....it really isn't that hard to get over an infestation - it just takes time....and you have to remember there is usually an underlying cause for such a huge explosion - it is a perfect sign that you are feeding your fish too much...

as for returning fish used for cycling, i also think that is irresponsible so......

take it as you will, but i think too many people get nervous about a snail outbreak when they really can't cause that much damage whatsoever if your tank is so heavily planted...with dozens of snails (ramshorn, pond, AND malaysian trumpet) in my 10g and 20 g long there isn't a single bitemark on a single plant

 

[The-Wolf]

They are only two and a half inches yet, they will grow to five inches.

tell that to my Two that are 7" and still growing

 

[Torrean]

like someone said earlier I think snails may be a blessing in disquise. If you have a TON of snails it's a good sign that you are feeding too much. It's almost like a feedometer or something. If there are a few snails then your feeding properly if there are a bunch and snail eggs all over the place then cut back on feeding.

 

[morgan]

Really?! I was told that they would get to 5 ins and fatten out. Hopefully on my pesky snails! LFS does it again. The same one that sold me a Common Pleco as a Bristlenose!

 

[danski]

okay maybe i overstated the amout a little. its not like a HUGE explosion but i can count at least 10 out in the open right now. it gets a litlle old removing them everyother day. i thought it was a good sign myself when there were just a couple and i didnt mind so much. but now there are too many for my liking since my plants are wilting over from all the holes they are getting. it started when i brought home some additional live plants. not to worry i will try the lettuce again for the 3rd time and see if i get any bites...